This Week’s Tweets and Pins

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter and Pinterest accounts this week that you might find interesting:

.

CHILDREN’S LIT

21 Books That Terrified You As A Kid http://buff.ly/1drxmvD #kidlit

Beyond boundaries: Reading children’s lit http://buff.ly/18nIcWt #kidlit

‘The Boy Who Loved Math’ and ‘On a Beam of Light’ http://buff.ly/1drxlb9 #kidlit

Children’s Corner: ‘Stick Dog’ and other fine new hybrid books for kids – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://buff.ly/15GqiIy #kidlit

Disability in Kidlit Blog: Add this to your “must read” pile: Disability in Kidlit. I should have blogged abou… http://bit.ly/1aGT7vb RT from @LizB

Gender stereotypes plague children’s picture books http://buff.ly/15LLpt9 #kidlit

How Scholastic Sells Literacy To Generations Of New Readers | KRWG http://buff.ly/18nIk8n #kidlit #publishers

Ringo Starr song Octopus’s Garden to be turned into children’s book | Books | The Guardian http://buff.ly/15mU30N #kidlit

‘Tails Chasing Tails,’ by Matthew Porter, and More http://buff.ly/18dVaWF #kidlit

Trans* Titles for Young Adults (Summer 2013) | Young Adult Library Services http://buff.ly/15G62H4 #yalit

Viz Media Debuts Children’s Imprint at Comic-Con 2013 http://buff.ly/13namfI #kidlit

E-BOOKS

‘Here Be Fiction’ Site Launches with 500+ Ebooks – The Digital Shift http://buff.ly/18lJ51T

The ‘Other’ E-Book Pricing Problem | Art Brodsky http://buff.ly/13mq1f9 #ebooks #libraries

LIBRARIES

:)

Anniston Star – Shelved Who decides which books are available in the state s school libraries http://buff.ly/13mpTwk #libraries

Books, Smaller – or the reason that public libraries are vital shown in one library for one family – http://buff.ly/12DhEfD

DC Public Library Opens Digital Commons, “Dream Lab” – The Digital Shift http://buff.ly/12PhInS #libraries

READING

The Rights of the Reader

The austerity story: How Spain fell in love with books again as locals flood back to libraries – The Independent http://buff.ly/15ODrlb

How to Create a Successful Reading Experience for Your Child | Dr. Gail Gross http://buff.ly/18SesjS #reading

TECHNOLOGY

Amazon’s Cloud Crash Disaster Permanently Destroyed Many Customers’ Data – Business Insider http://buff.ly/15ODlKi

How and Why Chrome Is Overtaking Firefox Among Power Users http://buff.ly/18nyYcY

Watch Out, Facebook: Why Google And Pinterest Are Gaining As Social Rivals – ReadWrite http://buff.ly/15PhWk9

Yahoo’s Fight for its Users in Secret Court Earns the Company Special Recognition in Who Has Your Back Survey | EFF http://buff.ly/15DoRdZ

TEEN BOOKS

From ‘The Giver’ to ‘Twilight,’ Young Adult Fiction Helps Teens Grow Up – Alyssa Rosenberg – The Atlantic http://buff.ly/1breUXd #yalit

Marvel Comics reveal new Spider Man is black and could be gay in the future | Mail Online http://buff.ly/12NCAM8

‘Megatokyo’ Raises Over $258K on Kickstarter http://buff.ly/15OX6kI #manga

What Are Grown-Ups Afraid of in YA Books? http://feedly.com/k/17omey1 #yalit

Review: Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko

| Tasha

al capone does my homework

Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko

Released August 20, 2013

This is the third and final book in the Alcatraz trilogy.  Moose is growing up on Alcatraz where his father has just been made Assistant Warden.  But with the promotion also comes dangers that he had not faced as a guard.  Moose quickly discovers that the inmates have a point system where his father is now worth a lot more points if he is attacked.  Moose has far more to worry about though, when there is a fire in their family apartment.  Moose feels very guilty because he had been watching his sister Natalie who is autistic, but he fell asleep.  Others are all too quick to blame Natalie for setting the fire, though Moose and his family don’t see her doing something like that.  Now Moose feels that he has to solve the mystery of the fire as well as protect his father as best he can, but there may be more mysteries along to solve, one that is even hinted at by a note from Capone himself!

I have loved this series from the first book.  The historical perspective of a family living on Alcatraz is tantalizing.  Yet it is Choldenko’s skill in creating characters who are immensely human and wonderfully heartfelt that makes this series so good.  Moose is a character who grows from one book to the next and within each book as well.  The growth is strong and believable.  The mystery here fits nicely in the historical setting and one finds out from the Author’s Note that the reason it is so credible is that Choldenko based much of it on real events of the time.

This series has been strong from the first book, never suffering from lagging in the middle book or from the final book trying to do too much.  Nicely, each book is individually satisfying as well, so they stand just as nicely on their own as they do in a trio.  However, I could never not find out what happened next to Moose and the other children on the island.

Satisfying and superbly written, this book is a great conclusion to a wonderful trilogy.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Dial Books.

Barbara J. Robinson Dies

| Tasha

Barbara Robinson The Best Christmas Pageant Ever The Best School Year Ever

Barbara J. Robinson, author of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, has died at age 85 according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Author of 12 books for children, she had a wonderful ear for comedic timing, basing her books on the antics of the Herdman family. 

While continuing to write, Mrs. Robinson spent the latter part of her career visiting schools across the country, speaking to children and teachers about writing, and attending writers’ conferences.

"That was the favorite part, speaking with the children who were her readers," her daughter said. "She was delighted with their questions and comments, some of which were hilarious."

PEN/Steven Kroll Award for Picture Book Writing Shortlist

| Tasha

The shortlist for the 2013 PEN/Steven Kroll Award for Picture Book Writing has been announced:

The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery

The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Amanda Hall

I Lay My Stitches Down by Cynthia Grady, illustrated by Michele Wood

Oh, No! Nic Bishop Snakes Those Rebels, John and Tom

Oh, No! by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann

Snakes by Nic Bishop

Those Rebels, John & Tom by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin

Review: I Am Blop! by Herve Tullet

| Tasha

i am blop

I Am Blop! by Herve Tullet

The author of Press Here returns with another simple and charming book.  Here the entire book is based around the shape of a “blop” which is something like a four-leafed clover, or a flower, or a butterfly.  With just a few words on each page, the youngest readers will discover a world of blops between these covers.  There are blops of different sizes, different colors, and they do a variety of things too.  Concepts are taught cleverly, such as mixing colors, what appears in a mirror, and opposites. 

While there are punch-out pages at the end of the book, this would still make a great pick for libraries to circulate.  I was particularly pleased with the mirror page and color mixing pages that add a special twist and fun to the book. 

Another great pick from Tullet, this book belongs in library collections and would make a great toddler read.  Expect to be drawing and seeing blops afterwards!  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from library copy.

Marc Simont Dies

| Tasha

A Tree Is Nice The Philharmonic Gets Dressed

Illustrator Marc Simont has died at age 97. 

Simont won the Caldecott Medal in 1957 for A Tree Is Nice written by Janice May Udry.  Over his career, he illustrated nearly 100 books, according to an article in the New York Times covering his death. 

Perhaps his best known title is The Philharmonic Gets Dressed written by Karla Kuskin, one of my all-time favorite picture books. 

The Book Thief–The Movie

| Tasha

The Book Thief

The release date for the film version of The Book Thief has been moved up.  Originally set for January 2014, it will now have a limited run in November of this year.  It’s all about positioning for the Oscars.  I look forward to seeing Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson in it.

Thanks to EarlyWord for the news.

Review: Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

| Tasha

boy nobody

Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

Boy Nobody enters schools, follows his orders, identifies his target, and completes his mission.  He is a soldier, working for The Program.  He is invisible, just another teen, but he is so much more.  His life changed when he was taken into The Program at age 11.  The Program fixed him, turning him into someone who can notice the smallest things, who can kill silently, and who has no emotions.  But when Boy Nobody is asked to do the fastest and most dangerous mission of his life, he discovers that he does have emotions.  And that is perhaps the most dangerous thing of all.

I have deliberately given a vague summary above, since a large part of the pleasure of this read is piecing things together.  Written in the first person, the reader gets to see the world from Boy Nobody’s skewed point of view.  This adds to the immediacy of the read, making it all personal, particularly the violence.  And there is violence, fights and murder, done with a coldness that makes it all the more sinister.  Throughout, you have Boy Nobody’s voice explaining just why it is all alright and how his life works.  Then as he begins to feel again, that voice changes and expands.  It is subtle but also powerful. 

This book is written with pacing in mind, the entire book reading like a movie script that plays before your eyes.  There is no hesitation here, little lengthy prose, just vibrant details that are necessary to hurtle the novel forward.  It makes for a read that is riveting and a joy to read. 

The ideal beach read for teens, this book has a thrilling combination of contract killing, subterfuge, and intelligence.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Little, Brown.

Review: Flood by Alvaro F. Villa

| Tasha

flood

Flood by Alvaro F. Vila

This wordless picture book shows the impact of a flood on a family.  The book starts with a sunny day at a house along the river.  The children are playing outside, the house is wrapped by a picket fence, and the windows are being replaced.  It is idyllic, beautiful and peaceful.  The storm front arrives along with the rain.  Sandbags are brought to the house and the family builds a wall of them to protect their home.  The new windows are boarded up and the family leaves their house behind.  Water quickly surrounds the house and soon it breaches the sandbags, rushing violently into the house.  The waters recede and the house is left, broken and damaged, filled with mud and muck.  But all is not lost, as the family rebuilds.

Though wordless, this book tells a powerful story of family, floods, loss and rebuilding.  The illustrations range from those colorful images of the perfect family home to images of destruction.  Vila captures the violence of these storms and the water itself.  There are several images that are very powerful including the first glimpse of the large storm front coming across the landscape to the close up of the water entering the home.  These natural images have a beauty to them but also a sense of foreboding.

This is a wordless book that will work well with a range of ages.  It is a timely read as well as weather systems grow more powerful and more families are facing natural disasters.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.